Kentucky held its general election on November 7, 2023, deciding 1 legislative seat and 7 statewide offices led by the governorship, including 1 special election.
Highlights
- Andy Beshear (D) won a second term, keeping a Democrat in the governor's office opposite a Republican legislature, while Republicans swept the other statewide offices elected separately from the governor's ticket.
- Beshear beat Attorney General Daniel Cameron (R) by about 5 points, a far wider margin than his 2019 win over Gov. Matt Bevin, which came by only about 5,100 votes. Cameron, endorsed by Donald Trump, had become the state's first Black attorney general in 2019 and was seeking to become its first Black governor. Abortion and transgender issues dominated much of the campaign. One widely seen Beshear ad, attacking Cameron's support for an abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, featured a young woman who had been raped by her stepfather at age 12.
- Registered Republicans turned out at a slightly higher rate than Democrats, so Beshear's margin depended on crossover votes. "He was elected by Republicans. Not a lot of them, but obviously enough of them," Secretary of State Michael Adams said of the turnout data. Trump, by contrast, said Cameron lost because he "couldn't alleviate the stench of Mitch McConnell."
- Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman (D) was re-elected on Beshear's ticket over Cameron's running mate, Robby Mills (R), and Republicans won the other five offices by 14 to 22 points:
Legislature
- House (100 seats): 20 D, 80 R before the election, 0 D, 0 R after.
- Senate (38 seats): 7 D, 31 R before the election, 7 D, 31 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Legislative races